Valve mechanism for seed-planters.



No. 823,884. PATENTED- JUNE 19, 1906.

- v A. 0. LINDGREN.

VALVEMBGHANISM FOR SEED PLANT'ERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAILZZ. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 823 884. PATENTED JUNE 19, 1906.

A. U. LINDGR-EN.

VALVE MEGHANBM FOR SEED ,PLANTERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22. 1906- g-gzgmas -sunm 2.

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ANoRzw. a. GRAHAM co, Pnm o-umonmmsns, WASHING YYYYYYY UNITED :ALEXUSQILINDGREN, or MOLINE, rnnino s, ASSIGNOR T MOLINE PLOW COMPANY, ACORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

VALVE MECHAN'IQMFOR seesenuine.

I pecification oiIIJett e'rs fatht.

iateiitd' .faie 1'9, moo.-

To all whom it may concern.- I

Be it known that I, ALExUs O. LINDGREN,

of Moline, county of Rock Island, and State] of Illinois, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Valve Mechanism for Seed- Planters, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to the valve mechanism ofseed-planters for as usual, in the runner-shank and comprises i amovable seed conductor or tube and a 00-- Operating valve, which partsare adapted by" their cooperation to efiect the planting of the seed inhills, means being provided for adjusting'the conductor at will, 'sothat it will be unobstructed bythe valve and an uninterrupted passagewill be presented for the dis-V charge of the seed continuously into theground, asin drilling, I

In-the accompanying drawings, Figure 1' is aside elevation of the'r'unner shank and seed-hopper of a corn-planting machine hav ing myinvention embodied thereinfl Fig. 2 is ajvertical' longitudinalsectional elevation of the same with the seed-conductor in the positionit occupies when it cooperates with the valve in planting the seedhills; Fig. 3 is a similar view with the conductor'adjusted to form anunobstructed passage for; the seed in drillin Fig. 4 is a rear elevationof the seed-conductor and its adjusting device, the

latter'being in an inactive position. Fig. 5 is a 'simil'i'ar viewshowing the adj usti'ng' device its active position and maintaining thecon ductor free of cooperation with the valve, and

adjusting device removed.

Referring to'the drawings, 1 represents a runner or seed 'conductorshank surmounted, as usual, by a seed-hopper 2, provided-with aseed-discharging echanism comprising a horizontal rotaryseed-platecontaining "cell's to-receive the corn from thehopper and directit'iinto'the upper end of the runner shan'k, means being provided, aswill be more fully described latter on,- for either turning theeed-plate at intervals when the machineis ,to be used as a hill-drop orfor turning the platecontinuously when the machine is used for drilling.I

-When used asa hill-drop, the seed-plate may be actuated by adriving-pawl 4, adapt: ed to" engage the teeth on theseed-plateandcarried on the upper end of'a rocking arm 5, actuated by the check=forkmechanism, (not shown,) the lower end of the arm being con-' nected withthe forward end of a link ,6,'-operatively connected at its opposite endwith the valve mechanism in the runner-shank, the throw of thedriving-pawl acting on the seedplate in such manner as to periodicallydischarge into the upper end of the runnershank a number of kernels toform a hill, usually three, and the valve mechanism acting. toaccumulate these kernels in charges and rnrnnr FFIOE;

the runner-shank, with its upper end inposition to receive the seeddischargedfrom the hopper. The valve proper is in theform of a narrowplate or casting arranged in an upright position and pivoted betweengitsends" between the Walls of the runner-shank in rear ofthe-seed-conductor on a horizontal transverse axi's'g', a lip 10 being.extended for wardly'from the upper end of the plateand adapted 1 toextend through openings 11 in the 'seed=tube and a finger 12' being pro,

jected forwardly from its lower end and adaptedto extend across andclose the lower end of thesed tube, the said finger and lip; actingalternately when thevalve isv rockedtube at its upper and lower; ends,respectively, in such manner that the kernels dis- ,charged into thetube from the hopper are; first accumulated in the tube'on the lip 10,whence theydrop to .thebottom of the; tube,

dropped into the ground;

The rocking. of the valve is effected by the' ,link 6, before alludedto, which'has its rear end jointed to the valve nearits upper end, Z sothat when the driving-pawl is operat'edtoj turn the seed-plate by therearward throw 0 the che'ck-fork (not shown) the valve will be rocked on'its axis vand the lip 10 projected into the seed-tube in position toreceive the on its axis to extend across and close the seed where theyare held by finger 12 and finally seed discharged from the hopper, thefinger 12 by the same action being moved rearward and ening the lowerend of the tube, thereby allowing the previouslyaccumulated charge toenter the ground. On the return of the check-fork the seed-plate remainsat rest and the valve is thrown rearward at its upper end, therebywithdrawing the lip from the seed-tube and projecting the finger 1o 12,with the result that the kernels at the upper end of the tube will bedropped and caught at the lower end, ready to be deposited into theground when the seed-plate is again operated to feed another charge ofkernels into the tube.

In drilling the seed into the ground its passage through the conductorshould of course be continuous and free from interruption by the valve,and to provide for this action I so sustain the conductor that it may beadjusted or set at will in such position relatively to the valve thatthe passage-way through the conductor will be unobstructed by either thelip or finger of the valve. This is conven- 2 5 iently effected byhanging or sustaining the conductor at its upper end on a transverseaxis or pin 18, mounted in the runner-shank in such manner that the tubemay be swung forward from the position it occupies in Fig.

0 2,where it cooperates with the valve, to the position shown in Fig. 3,where it is free of cooperation with the valve and the passagewaythrough the tube is uninterrupted. The adjustment of the tube iseifected by a lock- 3 5 ing-dog 14, formed with journals 15, mounted inbearings in the walls of the runnershank in rear of the seed-tube andprovided between the walls with a finger 16, adapted when the dog isturned in its bearin s to engage the tube and swing the same forward,one of the journals being extended to the outside of the shank, where itis provided with a squared head 17 for turning the dog. The tube isacted on by a spiral spring 18, seated 5 in a socket 19 in therunner-shank in front of the tube and bearing at its rear end againstthe same, which spring tends to hold the tube yieldingly in its rearwardposition, as shown in Fig. 2, in which position of the parts the fingeron the dog stands in an upright position and rests against a stop 20which limits the rearward movement of the tube and controls itsoperative relation to the valve. When the dog is turned forward toadjust the 5 5 tube free of the valve, the finger thereon engages thetube and urges the same forward until the motion of the finger isarrested by a projection 21 on the tube, so arranged that it will act tolock the finger against further movement on its axis, and the tube willbe held fixedly in its forward position free of cooperation with thevalve.

The relation of the tube to the valve is such that when the former it inits rearward cooperating position it will stand at an inclinationrearward and when adjusted for wardly it will stand in a truly verticalposition, with the result that the seed may fall by gravity directlyinto the ground, with no liability of striking against the sides of thetube.

It is understood, of course, that in converting the machine from ahill-drop to a drill there is substituted for the seed-plate used in ahill-drop a gear-plate, which latter is driven by operative connectionsfrom the groundwheels, (not shown,) or other means may of course beemployed for this purpose, the only requirement being that the seed bedischarged from the hopper continuously and not periodically. In thespecific form of operating mechanism for hill-dropping here shown it isthe practice when the machine is converted for drilling to disconnectthe valve proper, 7, from its operating mechanism and throw the upperend of the same rearward to the position shown in Fig. 2, with the lip10 withdrawn from the conductor 8, and to substitute for the pawl-drivenseed-plate a geardriven seed-plate.

In order to provide for the assembling of 0 the parts, more particularlythe adjustingdog, the wall of the runner-shank is formed, as shown inFig. 1, at one side with a slot or opening 21 communicating with theournalopening, which slot is of a size and form to 5 permit the finger16 on the dog to pass therethrough, so that the dog may be set in. placeby inserting the same laterally through this slot and then turning itupward behind the seed tube. In order to prevent the dog from escapingaccidentally or when it is .turned forward to its extreme position. inad justing the tube, the slot is disposed slightly beyond the lockingposition of the finger, and in removing or inserting the dog in placethe tube is forced forward to such position that the stop projectionthereon. will be free of the end of the finger 16, the relation of thetube to the shank being such as to permit of this abnormal position ofthe tube when the dog is to be inserted or removed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In aseed-planter, the combination of seed-discharging mechanism, arearwardly inclined movable seed-conductor, a valve adapted when thelower end of said eonductor is in its rearward position to cooperatetherewith for hill-dropping, and means for adjusting said lower end ofthe conductor forward to a vertical position free of cooperation withthe valve, for drilling.

2. In a seed-planter the combination of seed-discharging mechanism, aseed-conductor hung at its upper end to swing forward, a valvecooperating with the conductor when the latter is in its rear position,a spring acting to retain the conductor in its rear position, and anadjusting device for retaining the conductor in its forward position.

3. In a seed-planter, the combination of seed-discharging mechanism,arunner-shank, a seed-conductor mounted therein on a transverse axis andprovided on its rear side with a stop projection, a spring sustained bythe runner-shank and bearing on the front side of the conductor andtending to hold the same yieldinglyin its rearward position, and anadjusting-dog mounted in the runnershank and formed with a fingeradapted to engage the conductor and cooperate with the stop projectionthereon.

4. In a seed-planter, the combination of seed-discharging mechanism,arunner-shank, a seed-conductor therein, movable back and forth, anadjusting-dog mounted in the runner-shank on a transverse axis in rearof the conductor and formed with a finger adapted to engage theconductor and move the same forward, a turning-head on the dog situatedat the outside of the shank, and a valve adapted to cooperate with theconductor when in its rearward position.

5. In a seed-planter, the combination of seed discharging mechanism,arunner-shank, a seed-conductor mounted'near its upper end in the shankon a horizontal axis, an adjusting-dog mounted in the shank on ahorizontal transverse axis and in rear of the conductor, a finger on'thedog adapted when the latter is turned on its axis, to engage and urgethe conductor forward, and a projecable back and forth, a spring actingon the conductor and holding the same yieldingly in its rearwardposition, an adjusting-dog mounted in the shank and formed with aswinging finger adapted when turned for-' ward to engage and urge theconductor for: ward, and a stop on the shank adapted to be engaged bythe finger and limit the rearward movement of the conductor.

7. In a seed-planter, the combination of seed-discharging mechanism, amovable seed-conductor in position to receive the seed from thedischarging mechanism, a valve adapted to alternately close and open thelower end of the conductor for hill-dropping, and means for adjustingthe lower end of the conductor free of cooperation with said valve,fordrilling. I

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand, this 8th day of February,1906, in the presence of two attesting witnesses.

ALEXUS C. LINDGREN.

Witnesses:

L. C. BLANDING, THOS. J. MARSHALL.

